Monday 9th June Anchorage

We were woken up by the cleaners at around 10am and had to ask them how to work the coffee machine. Bloody awful expresso!!

Off exploring today starting with a walking tour around downtown. We had lunch at a Sandwich Bar and then headed for the Tony Knowles Coast Walk which is a beautiful coastal trail along Knik Arm and Cook Inlet winding gently along the coast eleven miles from downtown to the chalet at Kincaid Park. The entire trail is paved and is shared with cyclists. There was an abundance of wildlife including, wild geese on the mudflats, ducks on the lakes and eagles soaring above us. We stopped at Westchester Lagoon which is very popular with the locals. There were also some beautiful homes nestled around the lake and along the trail. It started to rain so we took some cover under our brollies and hastened our pace. As we were next to the coast we could see the tide changing the mudflats. There were warning signs along the track regarding the wildlife we may encounter - moose and bears. The rain started to really settle in so we turned around and made our way back into town. We hopped on a trolley tram late in the afternoon where a local guide pointed out areas of interest. We passed by Redemption Point and Captain Cooks Monument on our way to Earthquake Park. Earthquake Park is the only remnant of the devastation from the 1964 Good Friday quake which measured 8.6 on the Richter scale and lasted 4 minutes. The quake claimed 15 lives and the tsunami that followed took another 113. We also saw the 15 foot tall wire fences near the airport which were erected to keep the moose off the runsways. Our guide also told that during the summer months, local youths are paid to ride their motorbikes down the runways to scare the moose away. Anchorage Airport houses 25% of American Private Planes. There were float planes everywhere because fishing is a large part of the economy and the locals fly out to their private family fishing spots for days at a time. After the tour Pete and I walked back to Redemption Park to view the bronze Captain Cook Monument where he is standing on a large wooden deck looking out to sea, toward the route he used when he explored Cook Inlet in 1778 aboard the HMS Resolution. From here we had a beautiful view of Mt. Susitna, also known as the Sleeping Lady. We continued walking and stopped at the Snow Goose and Sleeping Lady Brewery. We had a drink upstairs and had a wonderul view of the docklands on Cook Inlet and in the distance the Sleeping Lady Mountain. The waiter was a little pushy, even stopped us when we were leaving insisting that we did not pay enough of a tip and he felt he deserved 25% tip because he gave us great service. Pete gave him another $1 and we laughed our way back to our hotel. We had a late dinner at the Slippery Salmon Bar and Grill which was attached to our hotel. It didn't look much from the outside, but the ambience and hospitality was amazing. The food was delicious and the Salmon was to die for.